


No Repose Like That

by deluxemycroft



Series: Ouroboros [19]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (not a man), An Agreement, Final Battle, Gambling, Gen, Helheimr | Hel (Realm), Soul Stone (Marvel), a bet, hela's armies, loki: a betting man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27554422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deluxemycroft/pseuds/deluxemycroft
Summary: Loki goes to Hel.
Series: Ouroboros [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1199902
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	No Repose Like That

**Author's Note:**

> this takes place after loki speaks with jacques duquesne in 'until the end'.
> 
> thank you so much to everyone for sticking with me during this hiatus and all the support and comments etc. i appreciate it so so so much, you have no idea. i promise this series will get finished (i know every author says that lol but this series has been stuck in my mind for so long i'll go nuts if i don't get it all out lol--like i've known how UTE was going to end for over a year, i just had to write it all out). i think i could keep it going for a long time if i wanted but i'm going to end it soon (my version of soon, so like 5 more fics lol). please give feedback and all that, i promise i appreciate every single word!
> 
> as a thanks, both this fic and the first chapter of the next one are being posted today, and then back to regular saturday postings. thanks everyone!
> 
> this won't make any sense at all unless you've read the prior fics in the series, please read those first.
> 
> enjoy!

Loki landed before the Hel’s massive, imposing gates, tucking the Tesseract away and clasping his hands behind his back to wait. He didn’t quite wish to think about Jacques Duquesnes or Thor or anything else other than what lay before him, but, of course, his mind ticked and turned over his problems regardless of his wishes.

Was there anything left in his life that Thor had not muddled with, had not changed? Could he even know the expanse of everything Thor had changed? He still did not know how long Thor had been at it, how long he had been working on his spell, but Loki was beginning to think it was a horrifyingly long time. Many, many thousands of years at the minimum. 

He did not have to wait long for Hela. She came alone, without wolf or guard, opening the gates to Hel and bringing out a chair for herself, sitting on her side of Hel and gesturing him closer.

“Does a visiting Prince not bow before a Queen?” Hela asked him as she sat, arching her eyebrows at him, and Loki gave her a sly smile, bowing at the waist.

He conjured up a chair of his own, nothing too ornate or expensive, merely a wooden chair with a high back and no arms, taking a seat in it, elegantly crossing one leg over the other and clasping his hands in his lap. Loki watched her for a moment and then spoke, “I would say you’re looking well, but this is certainly no place for lies.”

“Norns know how you open your mouth without lies spilling out,” Hela muttered, shaking her head. “Now, for our agreement?”

“How guache,” Loki murmured, wrinkling his nose but pulling out the Soul Stone. He floated it between them, within arms reach so he could snatch it if Hela had any designs on stealing it. “But, yes, the agreement. Thanos comes to Midgard soon, very soon. Within days. Two or three at most; our estimation is tomorrow. I need your assurance that your armies will fight with us.”

Hela’s mouth thinned. “One use of the Soul Stone is not nearly enough for all the armies of Hel, Loki.”

“Then tell me what else you desire, and I will do my best.”

Hela rolled her eyes. “I am Queen of an entire Realm,” she told Loki. “What have I for wants?”

“I am a Prince of Asgard,” Loki replied mildly, “yet I still desire much. The only Aesir in an entire realm of the dead _must_ wish for something. I could not give you the soul of the Valkyrie—perhaps you wish to complete another collection?”

Hela frowned at him, thinking. “I cannot imagine anything you give me would be adequate, Loki. Or, at least, nothing you would be _willing_ to give.”

“Oh?”

“You know I wish for the soul of that pet of yours, or even your husband’s.”

“Ah. I had thought we had...grown past speaking such desires, Hela.”

Hela waved a hand at him. “Oh, hush, wouldn’t you? Always mouthing off.” She trailed off, thinking to herself, eyes occasionally flickering back to the Soul Stone.

Loki held in his sigh. Such things were demonstrations of patience, and while he could be patient, it was not one of his strong suits. Perhaps he should’ve sent Clint, although there was the worry of Hela holding him hostage or something similar. He couldn’t take the risk; the archer was far too precious to him. He could have arguably come to Hel first and then gone to see Jacques, but he had been putting that particular interaction off for long enough and time was surely pressing down on him. He could feel the weight of Thanos’s approach and he needed to finish this. It was either let Jacques die as a human or manifest his death himself, and Loki had always enjoyed getting revenge. Wasn’t like Clint was going to do anything about it anyway.

He was endlessly curious about how Thor had found out about Jacques. Thor knew about the bond between Loki and Clint, and perhaps he had studied Clint and his life? Perhaps he had manipulated Clint just as he had Loki...but for _what?_ To what end?

There was a concern that was beginning to arise in the back of Loki’s mind, but he knew he would never find the answer. He had the suspicion that Thor had been trapped in the loop, that there was no way out, and perhaps Thor had known. Perhaps there was no reality where Thor was the one to kill Thanos, perhaps it was not the length of time or the seidr or the spells that had driven Thor mad, but the reality he had trapped himself in.

Or, perhaps, it was something entirely different, and there was no reality in which Loki ever found the answers he desired. The only way to get that would be to speak to Thor, and he was dead—beyond dead, really.

“I’ve been thinking,” Hela spoke up, jerking Loki out of his thoughts. “What would you be willing to give up in order to win this battle?”

“You’re going to have to make me an offer,” Loki finally decided with a smirk. “Perhaps something I cannot refuse?”

Hela’s long fingers curled into fists and she glowered at him. “How about a bet?”

“I do enjoy gambling, on occasion,” Loki mused, finally interested in the conversation.

“I tried to be nice, you know,” Hela told him. “I had thought, _Oh another brother, one who suffered like I did! Perhaps someone I can get to know_ , and you and your...behavior broke that. You are insufferable, you know that? Absolutely abhorrent to be around.”

“I don't believe any of that for a—”

“I want the Avengers,” Hela interrupted sharply. “I want your friends’ souls. I want you to lead them into battle and know that when they perish, they will not go to Valhalla, they will not go to Heven, they will come to me. _That_ is what I want, Loki. And I want to place a wager on it.”

Loki smirked. “Oh? Do tell.”

“If you win, if you kill Thanos yourself, I won’t take your husband’s soul. I can even direct it away from Hel and to Valhalla. If you lose, if Thanos wins...when Steve Rogers dies, I want you to deliver him to me yourself. You can keep your pet. But I want the Avengers.”

Oh, how _interesting_. Loki sat up and paid attention. “Must I kill the Titan myself?”

Hela sighed. “He must die by your hand or someone on your side.”

“So your proposed bet is…”

“If you win, if Thanos dies, you get to keep your husband with you when you die. If you lose, you bring him to me. I get the Soul Stone either way.”

“That is a terrible bet.” Loki shook his head. “Surely _I_ must get something if I win.” He thought for a moment, considering his options. He needed Hela’s armies and they both knew she had the upper hand. But he wouldn’t be Loki if he didn’t push it.

_Cap wants to know where you are._

_I’m busy._

_Sure, yeah. Uh...Hela, yeah? Good luck with that. Let me know if you need anything._

_Of course._

“If Thanos is killed, if I win, I get access to Hel. I’ve been in there, but never with permission, and I believe I would enjoy it. I also get to keep Steve, and you guarantee that he does not enter Hel when he dies. If I lose...you get the souls of the Avengers, _and_ I escort Steve’s soul to the gates of Hel when he dies.”

Hela thought that over. “I want the Avengers regardless.”

Loki hummed. “The souls of the Avengers in exchange? And do be specific about which ones you want. There’s so many nowadays.”

“Whichever of the Avengers perish in battle, I get their souls. Any of them. That is how you get my armies.”

“And the bet?”

“On the side,” Hela replied dismissively. Loki smiled at her, mind already racing.

“Any Avenger that dies in battle?” Loki clarified. Hela nodded slowly. “How do you quantify that? I don’t want someone dying a year from now and you say their soul belongs to you because they got a scratch during the battle against Thanos.”

Hela chuckled, licking blood away from her lips. “Fair,” she allowed. “How about: any injuries sustained during the battle that directly lead to death within...how long do humans live?”

“Seventy, eighty years.”

“Ugh. Really? Six months, then. If they sustain an injury during the battle and die within six months, they’re mine. Or if they die during the battle, of course.”

“Avengers only?”

Hela considered that. “I doubt you would care particularly if a fire giant perished in your battle. No, only your friends. If they perish in this battle, their souls belong to me.”

Loki’s smile widened. “You have an agreement, Hela. And one use of the Soul Stone. Supervised by me, of course.”

Hela pushed to her feet, Loki copying her, smoothing down his clothes and vanishing his chair. He summoned the Soul Stone and secreted it away. She held out her hand and Loki stepped closer to take it and shake it to affirm their agreement. “I assume the bet is also on?” Hela asked. Loki inclined his head. “Then we have an agreement. The armies of Hel are yours, Loki of Asgard.”

“Excellent. Lovely to work with you,” Loki told her, and after Hela turned to walk back into Hel, he found the path out and began to walk, dozens of various plots and plans already rolling around in his mind. Perhaps a potion...he had just the one in mind.

 _She’s got no idea what she’s gotten herself into,_ Clint commented idly, sounding amused.

Loki smiled. _It did seem remarkably easy. Strangely so. But you’d think the Queen of Hel would at least have me sign something,_ he mused, taking the first steps . _I was expecting to sign in blood and using yours._

 _Pity,_ Clint chuckled. _Maybe next time._

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!
> 
> please leave comments and kudos!


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